State governors under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum reportedly ruled out the option of paying N100,000 and above as the new minimum wage. At their meetingheld yesterday, the governors were considering a minimum wage within N60,000 – N70,000.
State leaders reviewed the country’s economic situation and concluded anything above N70,000 would not be sustainable and affordable.
The governors then ruled out the option of paying N100,000 as many people have suggested. Sources close to the development disclosed that the governors could not reach a conclusion on what should be paid between the N60,000 earlier proposed by the federal government and the N70,000 currently being paid by the Edo state government.
Then, the governors created a committee to review the minimum wage, headed by Hope Uzordinma, the Imo state governor.
Hope is the chairman of the progressives governors forum. These referred to the governors elected on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform. The governors’ position reflected the previous statement of the NGF’s statement, and the governor of Kwara state, AbdulRahman AbdulRaszaq, that governors would only agree to an “affordable and sustainable” minimum wage. This came after a recent industrial action by organised labour, which started on Monday, June 3, after they met with the leadership of the national assembly, which did not produce a satisfactory result.